A Little Ritual… Frangipani, Incense, and Balinese Beliefs

Shannon

7 years ago

The grandmother figure at my guesthouse in Ubud didn’t speak a lick of English but her open and friendly smile, coupled with a gentle beckoning of the hand, was the only invitation I needed to sheepishly shuffle over to the assembly line of family members weaving and plaiting palm leaves into tiny three inch by three inch containers.

The little pallets of offerings in Bali take so many different forms and are one of the first things I feel in love with wandering the streets of Ubud. Bali is a little anomaly in the middle of Indonesia and the daily nature-based worship of Balinese Hinduism is a stark contrast to the mostly Muslim country.

Every day as I dashed in and out of my guesthouse these little carafes of flowers and piles of petals dotted the perimeter of the compound – some appearing in the early morning hours as I sipped my tea (I’m an early riser and was able to silently watch the construction and distribution of these dozens of daily offerings), and others replacing the trampled petals of late afternoon.

And on the days when I slept in until the sun rose, I awoke to mini offerings perched on the table of my patio area.

Life Cycle of a Balinese Daily Offering

Before most tourists are wandering the streets the Balinese are out sweeping up all of the previous day’s offerings from around their businesses and homes. Buckets of water are used to wet down the sidewalk and they scrub not only the perimeter around the doorway, but the gutters too.

The streets of Bali are spotless in the early morning hours and sidewalks, steps, statues, and temples are now ready for the daily gift of offerings meant to appease and please the various gods and demons of Balinese Hinduism.

These little tributes are perched all over the city and could be as simple as a small and fragrant frangipani adorning each and every step leading into a housing compound.

Or more elaborate to guard the house’s doorway and appease the gods represented by statues throughout the house.

The offerings are simply everywhere.

They are a daily devotional gifts to their belief system. When I put it more in the context of my Christian background I think of it like saying the rosary — a repeated act of faith.

The darker side of it is that they use these offerings to appease demon spirits hanging around; so, as much as I present this sunshine-y side to the offerings, they are so much more than mere street decorations, they form a cornerstone of the daily practice of nearly every Balinese woman that I met.

They spend large parts of their day in the construction of these offerings, the dispersing around their compounds, and then they make more holders and palm leaf patterns.

The flowers are a lovely addition to wandering Bali but more than anything, sitting and watching the women and men plait palm leaves day after day took what I had viewed as a cute religious practice and grounded it into a much clearer window into their beliefs and daily lives. It’s so easy to travel to these countries and pick out the fun parts and view it from the outside, as a Westerner looking in on what could be regarded as cute or kitschy practices. But sitting there, with them. It’s so very much a lovely and honest part of their everyday life that these ornate offerings provide such a pretty opening to something deeper within the Balinese culture.

Learn More About Bali and Balinese Hinduism

Bali: Sekala & Niskala: A wonderful book if you want to truly understand Balinese culture and thought. The book is a collection of essays with topics life Hindu mythology and modern gamelan music.